[nflug] Linux Certification

[Robert Wolfe]

On Mon, 8 Oct 2007 11:37:30 -0400
"Mark Musone" <mmusone at shatterit.com> wrote:

> Me and a colleague of mine just had a conversation about this topic. I
> thought his comments were well warranted and wanted to share them. 

[...] 

> What the industry needs is not certification but licensing. Just as in any
> other professional field (engineering, medical, law,..etc..). 

Well, I have a rebuttal to this from a colleague of mine :)  I have to say that I agree with his sentiments as well.

"i believe that is only a half truth. when seeking a certification you 
have to judge it's worth. how one does this is by understanding the 
audience that values it. most certifications are based on a minimum 
understanding of basic knowledge of the what is being tested on. the 
cheaper the certification the more common it is and also the more basic 
the knowledge being tested on. we can see this if we compare the Linux 
plus exam VS the RHCE exam. Linux plus is about 150.00 and is a question 
based test. the RHCE is a practical based exam where you have to perform 
tasks to prove you can do what you say you can and costs 1,500.00 an 
exam. it would be obvious to any one the RHCE is a harder test and more 
sought after certification. as an employer certification are good for 
gaging basic skills only. but this does not mean that a certifications 
is devoid of value because a person or a corporation does not value it 
while the rest of the world does. certifications along with job 
experience go along way when in the job market. but certifications 
cannot sell you to your perspective employers. if they get a bad vibe 
from you or just don't like you they are going to hire you no matter 
what certs you have."

-- 
Robert Wolfe [Linux+/MCSE] <rwolfe at shatterit.com>
"People always make the wolf more formidable than he is." - French Proverb